“You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Ah, yes, Hazel, come in.”
Hazel stepped into the office. It was one of the largest in the monastery, with shelves of books lining one wall. Maps covered the opposite wall, and a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over a courtyard made up the wall directly behind a huge oak desk. Hazel stood with his back straight and arms at his sides. His eyes were locked forward, and they stayed that way even as his commander, Captain Loren Cassidy, stood from his large wooden desk and walked toward him. “At ease. I have a very special mission for you. One that I would only entrust to someone like you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Hazel said. His feet moved further apart, and his hands went behind his back, but his gaze didn’t waver.
“Don’t thank me just yet. This is going to be no walk to the market. We’ve been getting reports from temples and other monasteries. The Demon Lord Zekitana has been making moves lately. Our channelers don’t know exactly what he’s doing, some kind of powerful demonic magic is blocking their divination. I need you to investigate.”
“Sir, do we have a lead, sir?”
“The only thing we have to go on is a name. Lilith. She may be the demon’s agent, or she could be a victim that he has been possessing. We aren’t sure.”
“By the glory of the Order of the Blade, I will find this ‘Lilith’ and put an end to Zekitana’s reign of tyranny.”
Captain Cassidy nodded. “Dismissed. Go gather what you wish to take with you. You are to leave within the hour.” Hazel saluted his commander and marched out of the office to fetch his backpack, sword, and his plate armor. He was ready and waiting at the gates of the monastery for his dismissal in thirty minutes. The sun was approaching its zenith and the day was growing hot. A cleric came out of the nearby sanctuary.
“Name and rank sir? For the record.”
“Hazel D’Aurum, Knight of the First Order.”
“Destination?”
“I’m on my way to search for a woman named Lilith. She’s a suspected contact of a Demon Lord. I’m not sure where, or who, she is, but I’ll find her.”
“Next of kin?”
“If I don’t come back, donate all my possessions to the Order.” With that final declaration out of the way, Hazel marched himself through the gates and onto his quest.
He realized rather quickly that he had no idea what to do. He had packed a week’s worth of food from the monastery storehouses. That would get him to the closest major city. There was a temple there where he could pray for guidance. He set his shoulder determinedly and started walking. If the gods desired him to find the Lilith, they would show him the way.
#
When he got to the town, he had nothing but his armor, his sword, and a grim determination to find the witch called Lilith. His belly was empty, so when he went to the temple, he ate with the clerics that tended it. He asked after their business and told them of his quest.
“If it’s a witch you’re after, we’d be more than happy to help you in any way we can young master,” the head cleric told him.
“I just need time to pray for guidance in the presence of the gods. Where is your altar?”
The man showed him to the place where they made their sacrifices and pour libations out to the gods. It was a largely featureless stone room with a stained glass window casting the late afternoon light down on a simple wooden altar. The stained glass depicted a full moon among many stars. The altar was covered by a linen cloth that reminded Hazel of a burial shroud. It was as pure white as anything he had seen and it had perfect creases from where the clerics would fold it before the sacrificial ceremony.
Hazel knelt before the altar and began to mutter to himself. He started by confessing to every misdeed he could think of, so he could free himself of guilt before asking a favor from the Holy One.
Two days later, Hazel came out of the altar room announcing that he had had a vision. He asked the clerics to provide him with two weeks worth of trail rations and directions to a crossroads between the towns of Runner’s Mill and Hartford. When they gave him these things, he was over the horizon before the sunset.
#
He stopped near the crossroads from his vision, stared up at the sign, and thought out loud to himself. “There can’t be that many women named Lilith in the world. What if I just went from town to town asking for her?”
“Do ye talk to yourself often lad?” Hazel jumped and turned around to see an aged man with a large sack on his back and a cane in his hand.
“My apologies, sir. Am I blocking your way?”
“Not at all, me boy, I was just listening to your musings wondering what it is your doing out here.”
“My name is Hazel. I am a Knight of the White Rose. I’m looking for a woman by the name of Lilith.”
“I see. And do you know much else about this woman aside from her name?”
“Alas, no. That’s why I’m stuck, you see. I have faith that the gods will guide me to the right place, but I haven’t the slightest clue where the gods want me to go.”
“Well, if’n you’d like, you can come and stay with me. Perhaps they’ll send a sign down to ya. And while you wait, perhaps you can provide a hand or two of help to an old man.”
“Of course, sir. Please, lead the way.” Hazel followed the strange old man down the eastward path. The pack the man was carrying looked heavy and Hazel offered to carry it for him.
“That’s quite alright. I ain’t quite that old yet.” The man began telling stories of when he was young and tending his father’s farm. Hazel listened, but he thought idly of who the woman might be. He suspected a possible cult member or perhaps a witch desiring power. He realized too late that he hadn’t been listening to the old man, who proceeded to knock him on the head with his cane.
“Ow.” Hazel rubbed the spot on the top of his head where his helmet had smashed into it. “My apologies sir. I was still dwelling on the woman I had mentioned.”
“Take my advice, me boy. It’s never a good idea to dwell on a woman. Once you go from dwelling on women to dwelling on a woman, it’s all over for you.” The man picked up his pace and Hazel was surprised to see how able-bodied he was. “C’mon. We’re almost to my cottage.”
Hazel followed the old man through the trees on the side of the road. Soon they arrived at a one-room cabin a mile off the road. “I don’t usually have very many visitors, but I suppose today is special. Not sure how much room there’s gonna be on the floor fer sleepin’” The man opened the door to reveal a tall, slender woman with ink-black hair and sun-kissed skin. She sat at the table drinking from a steaming cup. “Hazel, this is… what did you say your name was my dear?”
“Lilith. Pleased to meet you, Hazel.” The woman held out her hand, but Hazel was frozen to the spot. He had never seen a cultist up close and was expecting a raggedy old hag. In confusion, his hand went to the hilt of his sword, but he was able to turn the gesture into a bow at the last moment. “It pleases me to meet you as well. I believe I have been sent here by my holy Order and by the gods to find you.”
“Find me? What holy order is looking for me?”
“A demon lord by the name of Zekitana has been making moves recently. Yours is the only name our channelers could discover.”
“I see.” Lilith looked toward the old man. “Well, if you have come to kill me you’d better do it outside. No need for us to dirty up this nice man’s cottage with your blood.”
“I… I’m sorry?”
“That is what you Holy Knights are all about, isn’t it? Killing anyone who is associated with the demonic?”
“Well… yes… but…”
“But you expected me to try and lie or weasel my way out of your clutches? I tend to prefer my enemies left more… neutralized.”
This time Hazel did draw his sword. “If you expect to kill me, you’re in for it.” Lilith waved her hand and a blast of energy sent Hazel flying through the still-open door. As she stepped outside, she closed the door behind her, leaving a very confused old man inside.
Hazel got to his feet and charged at her, only to be met with another blast of energy. This time he landed on his feet, however. He started to chant a prayer and a blue flame erupted from the hilt of his sword, sheathing it in a burning, sapphire glow. He charged again, but this time when the blast came he spun to the right and swiped with his sword. Lilith jumped back just in time, but the tips of her hair got singed by the fire. With a cold fury, she locked eyes with Hazel and began a chant of her own. Suddenly, a circle of runes appeared on the ground around her. They started to glow and spin. When Hazel tried to step across this newly formed circle, a burst of lightning sent him flying into the trunk of a nearby hickory tree.
“You can’t win this fight. There’s a reason your channelers were given my name when they went searching for the Demon Prince. I am his most powerful servant.”
“If you’re his best, then I don’t see why he wasn’t finished off long ago. I’ve taken your worst and I’m still standing.”
Lilith cocked her head and smiled. “Honey, I have barely begun.” Her hands started to make impossible shapes as she chanted something almost musical. Suddenly, a thick fog rolled around the two combatants and Hazel could no longer see. He heard her laughter though, and he started to move toward it carefully. Just then, a spider the size of a dog jumped out of the mist and lunged at him. Hazel was quick with his sword and bare moments later the spider was cut in half on the ground. A moment after, it disappeared, and he heard Lilith’s laughter again. This time, it was coming from the other direction. Something in the pit of Hazel’s stomach told him this wasn’t right. He stood his ground and focused on listening to his surroundings. Without making a sound, a two-ton cobra emerged from the mist and reared up, flashing its white fangs. Hazel jumped back as the cobra lunged forward and its fangs buried into the earth in the spot where Hazel had been half a heartbeat ago.
As the snake slithered back into the mist, he was sure he knew what was going on. He reached his hand toward the blade of his sword just as Lilith’s laughter rang out for the third time. Hazel looked up to see a huge dragon descending on him, but he didn’t flinch. He simply pressed the blade of his sword into the flesh between his thumb and forefinger and sliced his hand open. He bit back a small yelp, and the dragon dematerialized just before it’s massive claw caught his head.
The mist cleared and Lilith was standing in the same spot she had been, a sheen of sweat on her face. “You’re trained to fight illusions I see. Not many people know that trick.”
“Pain pulls you back to reality. Once your mind feels real pain, everything it’s making up stops mattering. After that, it’s all about maintaining control.”
“No need to lecture me on the limits of my spells.” She raised her hands again and Hazel readied himself. He whispered a short prayer to stop the bleeding in his hand. He’d have to tend to it soon, but he could tell her will was wavering. This fight wasn’t going to last much longer.
The ground cracked, and eight black tentacles came writhing out of it all around Hazel. The tentacles knocked the sword from his hands and wrapped around him crushing him with immense strength. Hazel could feel his ribs about to give way, and his hands were pinned to his sides, but he was able to bend his fingers and choke out the words to one final spell before he blacked out. His body burst with holy light that seared the black tentacles. They blistered and boiled and retreated into the crevices in the ground.
Hazel landed on his feet and was conscious just long enough to hear Lilith say, “you bastard,” and to see her pass out. Then, blackness overtook him.